Mahboobeh Hosseinpour

Mahboobeh Hosseinpour is the sister of Ardeshir Hosseinpour, an Iranian nuclear physicist who died on 15 January 2007 under disputed circumstances at the Isfahan uranium conversion facility. Mahboobeh became a prominent witness and advocate following her brother's death, publicly attributing his killing to the IRGC Intelligence Organisation.

In October 2014, speaking from Turkey in an interview arranged by 'The New Iran' opposition group and published by outlets including Haaretz and The Times of Israel, Mahboobeh stated that the IRGC Intelligence Organisation had murdered Ardeshir for refusing to participate in nuclear weapons development. She described how, in November 2004, three IRGC agents had approached her brother with a personal message from Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, offering him a two-star rank in the Revolutionary Guards and ownership of factories in exchange for working on increasing uranium enrichment for weapons purposes. After he declined multiple times, she alleged, Khamenei ordered his assassination.

Mahboobeh said she obtained information about the circumstances from Ardeshir's widow. Her account stands in direct contrast to Iran's official explanation — gas poisoning from a faulty heater — and to earlier reports by the American intelligence firm Stratfor that had attributed the death to Mossad. Former Mossad officials denied any involvement.